Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1887-06-03
THE TRAIN DISPATCHER.



The travelling public have long been
wont to bestow approval upon railway
engineers for the self-sacriticing spirit
which they exhibit when the lives en-
trusted to their care are endangered.
and i'm the annals of the rail these oc-
currences are so frequent that passen-
gers generally picture the man at the
throttle of the locomotive As a hero by
virtue of his position. These opin-
ions are deservedly held. and it would
be the grossest injustice TO detract
from the honor which Sc abnegation
al ways merits; but there is n class OF
railway employees, almost entirely un-
known to passengers, whose response
bility is so much greater and whose
slightest omission might leopard &c
the lives of people on trains more than
any oversight on the part of conductors
or engineers, that il is indeed strange
they are so seldom mentioned in the
public prints.
This class is the train dspatchers,
whose every order is implicitly obeyed
bv tranmen; while the crew of one
train is responsible for the movement
of that train alone, the dispatcher holds
in his hands the lives Of every individu-
al on every train on the road. and on
u road having large traffic the duties
imposed on him are very great and
arduous.
His position in the railway service is
time and provided for on the period
ical time table issued by the company,
he would have no duties to perform
but trains Will get delayed and occasions
will arise requiring extra trains. or
trains without any specified time or
rights to be run over the road, and
then his services are necessary 10 avoid
hours of delay.
All trains on railroads are divided
in classes, according to their import
ance; generally two, passenger and
freight; and all trains OF one class
rum NJ in a specified direction have
the right 10 the road. or need keep no
look out Tor ira rs OF the same or a
lower claes running in the opposite
direction. Thus it is assumed that on
certain railroad trains running east
ward have the right of way over trains
running westward; then an east bound
passenger train can run the whole
length of the road in entire d sregard
of all trains; another passenger ira n
going west need only look out for the
east bound passenger train, while the
freight ira ms must keep out OF the
WAY of both passenger ira rs and o
the freight train which is running il
the direction prescribed "a hay ne the
right of road.
Every one understands that all train:
, are chartered, or have = time gwen foi
passing each stat on, winch time can il
Z no instance be anticipated, and hence
0 all train men know where all othel
trains ought to be at any particular mo
!, ment, # on time; but as trains FIRE
; quentv and generally get late, the
|. tram of inferior class must have il
e movement expedited by some extran
c eous cause, or it may be delayed 70
hours ava ting train that may hav
" been wrecked or has been kept bacl
4, for some other of many causes. Ihei
the duties of tho train dispatcher ar
, of importance. He viii probably give
4 an order TO the DELAYED train by tele
! graph direct NJ it not 10 60 beyond
:. certain place which he thinks It ca
>, reach without difficulty, and he direct
So the opposing train to proceed to tn
Is same place and there pass the othe
II train. and in that manner the trains ar
enabled TO pass each other without an
DELAY to either His great respons
biity consists in that he may have do'
=, en- other trains in his charge at thu
n same time. and in directing one trai
e. to 20 beyond its usual place 10 NEE
a another he may neglect to give an o.
. der to the second ira II, and in such a
,e event collision would probably CT
on sue, much property be destroyed an
to probably many lives BE- lost.
OF 1t will readily be seen that the Sigh
est mistake of ira spatcher mig
y, cause serious results; and in this r
o, spcct his responsibility is probab
/, greater than that of any other indiv''
he ual under whose charge the public a
on placed. A pilot on a vessel may 10
TX his reckoning. but the fact soon b
n. comes apparent to others. and his c
he pacity for mischief is thereby lessene
nd other railway employees may negle
their duties. and rush headlong in
ov danger. but their associates general
r realize the danger before any unfort
mt nato results ensue; but the slightest
~, hest of train dispatcher must be ODE
&c cd without question; even though 10
m, so would jeopardize the lives OF tho
en-. receiving the orders though. OF cour'
al. -. M